Oakland Raiders hire new offensive coordinator

The Raiders on Friday hired Greg Olson to be their offensive coordinator, a person familiar with the situation said.

Olson spent last season as the assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He replaces Greg Knapp in Oakland and will work under coach Dennis Allen.

Olson has six years' experience as an offensive coordinator in the NFL, including three with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, from 2009-11. During that time, Olson was credited with the rapid development of quarterback Josh Freeman into one of the league's more promising players.

It's also worth noting that Olson favors a power-blocking scheme, which means the zone-blocking scheme favored by Knapp and fired offensive-line coach Frank Pollack are gone after one season.

That should help jump-start running back Darren McFadden, who averaged only 3.3 yards per carry in 2012 and never looked comfortable in the scheme.

Rams running back Steven Jackson had his best season in 2006 with Olson as his offensive coordinator.

Olson also worked with Drew Brees when both were at Purdue and Olson was the quarterbacks coach.

Allen hired Olson after a lengthy and thorough search that included interviews with numerous high-profile candidates. In the end, Allen felt as if Olson was the best fit.